Universal relay particularly suitable for railroad safety equipment



Jan. 15, 1935. R. ZAWADZKI 1,987,654

UNIVERSAL RELAY PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR RAILROAD SAFETY EQUIPMENT Filed Jan. l6,' 1932 Patented Jan. 15, 1935 ABLE FOR RAILROAD MENT SAFETY EQUIP- Richard Zawadzki, Berlin-Nikolassee,.Gerrnany, assignor to Vereinigte Eisenbahn-Signalwcrke, Gesellschaft mit beschriinkter Haftung, Sie-.

mensstadt, near Berlin,

tion. of Germany Germany, a corpora-' Application January 16, 1932; Serial N0.'.587,0'94' In Germany July 23, 1931 3 Claims. 200-168) My invention relates to relays, and more specifically to a universal relay which is particularly suitable for railroad block or similar safety equipments.

Various types and forms of relays exist, which are employed according to the conditions prevailing and the requirements in any particular case, for instance lift-armature relays, consisting of two coils with armature, disc armature relays and motor-operated relays. Since in each of these types of relays the contacts are operated in a difierent manner, the construction of these relays must be difierent in each case.

The object of my invention is to' provide a universal relay in which the box, casing or housing, the contact gear and the connections between the contacts are of standard construction, and either a lift-armature relay, a motor-operated relay or a disc relay may be accommodated in the same box.

Another object of my invention is to design the relay in such a manner that an unrestricted View may be obtained-of the terminals as well'as the internal working parts of the relay, to'facilitate supervision and control.

I attain this end in view by arranging the supporting plate for the various parts of the relay vertically. It is then possible to accommodate all terminals on the outer side of the supporting plate so that the various connections may easily be examined and changed, as desired.

According to a further feature of my invention the supporting plate may entirely or partly be constructed of a transparent material or be provided with windows so thatthe working of the internal parts of the relay may easily be watched.

A particularadvantage of my improved relay is that it is no longer necessary to effect the connection between the individual terminals by flexible conductors, but that leaf springs may be employed for this purpose so that a mutual contact between the connecting leads is practically impossible.

An embodiment of my invention is by way of example illustrated in the drawing aiiixed to my specification and forming part thereof.

The drawing illustrates in:

Fig. 1, a relay of the lift-armature type in sectional side-elevation,

Fig. 2, a sectional side-elevation,

Fig. 3, a front-elevation,

Fig. 4, a plan of the same relay containing a disc-armature,

Fig. 5, a modified construction of the contact springs and,

Fig. 6, a motor-operated relay according to my invention in sectional side-elevation.

Like parts. are indicated by like reference numerals throughout allthe figures of the drawing.

Referring to Fi 1, it will be seen, that the two magnet poles of relaycoil 1 are disposed to attractythe armature 2. At the underside of the armature secured an insulating member 3, which on its upper and lower face carries as many contact springs 4 and 5 as there are contacts to be operated. In the attracted stateof the armature 2 shown, the spring 4 touches at the point 6 the contact screw 7 which iselectrically connected to the terminal screw 9 at the outside of the supporting plate 8. In the released state of the armature 2 thelower spring 5 makes contact with the contact screw; lll whi ch is in electrical connection with the external terminal screw 11.

It will bereadily understood from this figure that a great-number of electrical connections may be made in my improved relay by very simple means. In the case illustrated the contact springs 4 and 5 are-electrically connected by the bolts 12, while the contact spring 5 is also electricallyconnected to the external terminal screw 14 by an elastic strap 13.

Referring to Figs. 2, -3 and 4 which show the same relay with a disc 17 serving as armature, it will be seen that this disc-armature is disposed to rotate between the poles of the magnet. On the spindle of the disc is mounted a pinion 18 gearing with the toothed quadrant 19 which it turns around its pivot 20 in the direction of the arrow shown, i. e. counter-clockwise. This raises the pin 21 on the quadrant 19, on which is hinged a link 22 pivotally connected at its other end. to the insulating member 3 which it. raises intothe upper position together with the contact springs 4 and 5. In the position illustrated the contactsprings are in their lower position in which the terminal screw 11 iselectrically connected to the terminal screw 14. T In the front wall 8 of the relay are provided two windows 23 and 24 through which it is possible to watch the working of the movable parts of the relay, as particularly clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. It will be understood that the entire front wall 8 supporting all the constituent parts of the relay may consist of a transparent material.

From Fig. 4 it will be observed that any desired number of contact springs 4, 40, 41, 42- and so on may be mounted on the insulating member 3 carried by the relay armature 2 of Fig. 1, or relay disc 17 of Fig. 2.

In the same way it is possible to accommodate a motor-operated relay in such type of box or housing, and to operate similarly constructed contact or terminal members, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing. With all the types of relays it is essential that the movable armature be coupled with the carrier 3 of the contact springs, so that this carrier as Well as the supporting plate with the terminals and the inspection windows and the housing may be standardized. In this way I have provided a universal relay which, amongst others, has the following special advantages:

The relay is totally enclosed and dust is unable to penetrate into the operating mechanism, the terminals are located on the, front and can be, easily supervised and the connections readily be changed without the necessity of opening the relay, the working of the relay may be inspected from outside, one and the same housing and the same contact springs and terminals may be used for the various types of relays, such as lift-armature,- disc ormotor-operated relays, and lastly flexible leads may be eliminated and yet the most diversified'connections be effectedpurely by leaf springs 'of standard pattern. 1

Fig. 5 of-the drawing, illustrates another arrangement of the contact springs electrically connected with one another, the individual spring straps 13 located side by side being held together by an insulating member 25 common to all of them, and being then likewise individually con nected to the springs 5 held in position by the insulating member'3. The spring straps 13 carry in this case the commoninsulating member or block 25 as well as the 'insulating'member orblock 3 holding together the individual contact springs. 1 l I From Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 it will be observed that the spring straps may also be very conveniently taken to one of the terminals located on the front supporting plate. 4 a

In Fig.6 of the drawing illustrating a motoroperated relay, the arrangement of the contact springs and spring straps as well as of the insulating member and the terminals is identical with the other figures. The only feature different here is that a motor 26 is suspended from or mounted on the supporting plate 8, the crankshaft 27 rotatedby the motor being by a connecting rod 28 joined-to the insulating member 3 carrying the contact springs, so that in this case precisely as in the other figures contact is alternately made and broken when the motor is in operation.

It will be readily understood that structural changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or the ambit of my appended claims.

I claim as my invention:-

1. A universal relay mounting for enclosed relays having a relay element and a group of movable operating contacts operated by said element,

said mounting comprising a box having a removable vertical front wall serving on the inside as sole support for the several constituent portions of the entire relay, fixed contact terminals for said relay also mounted on said walland protruding to the outside thereof, all non movable relay supports and terminals being confined to a plurality of zones on said wall, and the movable operating contacts being concentrated adjacent to the wall portions intermediate said plurality of zones, said intermediate wall portions being transparent for observing the operating parts of said relay.

2. A universal relay mounting for enclosed relays having an actuating relay element and a group of movable operating contacts, said mounting comprising a box having a removable vertical front wall serving on the inside as sole support for the several constituent portions of the entire relay, fixed contact terminals for said relay, also mounted on said wall and protruding to the outside thereof, a longitudinally disposed insulating member actuated by said relay element and being disposed and supported away from said front wall, contact springs mounted on said insulating member and extending forwardly into the vicinity of said wall and having their free ends disposed to contact respectively with the inner portions of said terminals, all non-movable relay supports and terminals being confined to a plurality of zones on said wall, and the movable contact elements being concentrated adjacent to the wall portions intermediate said plurality of zones, said intermediate wall portions being. transparent for observing the operating parts of said relay.

3. A universal relay mountingfor enclosed relay's having an actuating relay element and a group of movable operating contacts, said mounting comprising a box having a removable vertical front wall, serving on the inside as sole support for. the several constituent portions of the entire "relay, fixed contactterminals in said wall protruding to the outside, a longitudinally disposed insulating member arranged and supported in the box awayfrom said front wall and being operated by said actuating relay element, and individual contact springs mounted on said insulating member and extending toward said front wall to contact at their free ends respectively with the inner ends of said fixed contact terminals, an elastic supporting element for said insulating member fixed on said wall and being electrically connected to one of said terminals and to all of said contact springs, all non-movable relay supports and terminals being confined to a plurality of zones on said .wall, and the contacting end portions of said contact springs being concentrated adjacent to the wall portions intermediate said plurality of zones, said intermediate wall portions being transparent for observing the operating parts of said relay.

RICHARD ZAWADZKI. 

